Marsh Memorial Homes 2670 views

Marsh Memorial Homes is a residential care facility based in Rondebosch, Cape Town, providing a safe haven for around 60 children at risk. Established by the Revered E.T. Marsh in 1901, MMH initially catered only for orphans. It has since evolved to become a multi-cultural facility,catering for children whose homes are beset with financial difficulties, drug/alcohol problems or physical abuse, and who have suffered emotional trauma as a result. Far from institutionalising the children, MMH has also pioneered a family support service model – to address the issues at source and facilitate the reuniting of children with their families.

Marsh Memorial Homes began life as an orphanage, established by Reverend Edward Marsh and his wife, Janie, in 1901. Acting on the last will and testament of his father (William Marsh – a wealthy Cape Town businessman), Edward established Marsh Memorial Homes on the Woodside Estate in Rondebosch, Cape Town.

At Marsh Memorial Homes, we strive to be recognised as a leading multicultural child and youth care centre in the Western Cape. In particular, we strive to offer holistic care in the form of various youth development programmes, thus ensuring the emotional, physical, spiritual and educational well being of our children. Our overall objective is to provide a loving and caring home in which children at risk can be nurtured, counseled and guided towards being reunited with their families and their communities.

Marsh Memorial Homes has evolved to become a multicultural facility, catering not only for orphans, but for children whose homes are beset with financial difficulties, drug/alcohol problems or physical abuse, and who have suffered emotional trauma as a result. With the dangers of institutionalising children now widely recognised, Marsh has set itself up as more of a temporary safe haven - providing a refuge for children at risk, while at the same time addressing the issues at the source (in the homes the children come from), in order to facilitate the reuniting of children with their families.

In recent years the Methodist Church has begun to take a more hands-on involvement with the running of the Homes, as opposed to simply chairing the board and directing affairs from behind the scenes. A chaplain has been appointed and, in fact, the Bishop's head office is now situated on the campus. Partnerships with other Methodist organisations and children's homes - both locally and internationally – are flourishing, as Marsh Memorial Homes continues to take child care to the next level.